Chafers and chaffing stands are used to hold pans, often with a heating device held below the pan. Catering establishments and restaurants often use such devices when keeping food warm at a location other than where the food was initially prepared. For example, chafers are used in places such as banquet halls and the like, where large amounts of food are constantly being served.
The chafers, usually in the form of rectangular metal receptacles, are of a normally standard dimensional size and are filled with food to be heated and/or served. Chafers are commonly supported upon transportable wire stands during both heating and serving, with each of the wire stands being hereinafter referred to as a “wire chafing stand” and usually being composed of steel. The wire chafing stand of the prior art, as exemplified by U.S. Pat. No. 5,921,513, issued to Robert Skvorecz, is a relatively simple structure having an upper rim and a lower rim formed of respective larger and smaller rectangular wire structures around a respective rectangular opening. The upper and lower rims are connected to each other by means of wire legs to form a frusto-pyramidical structure dimensioned to hold and support a chafer containing food. The wire legs are usually welded to the upper and lower rims at the corners of the structure, with the wire legs extending below the lower rim, so that they also function as bottom supports to keep the stand level with the ground and to maintain the lower rim at a predetermined height above ground level for placement of chafing fuel heaters for the chafing dish in the stand.
Because numerous chafers are used at occasions, where required, numerous wire chafing stands are also required, with both the chafers and the wire chafing stands being respectively transported, stored and nested together in multiple units. Presently, wire chafing stands, such as those shown and described in the aforementioned patent, permit the stands to be partially nested into one another when stacked; i.e., the stands nest, however only to a limited extent. As further described in said patent, the cost of storage and transportation has a direct relationship to the vertical height of a stack of nested wire stands. Accordingly, for wire stands with only limited nesting capability, the transportation cost for transporting such wire stands over long distances becomes a significant factor in its selling price. This, in turn, reduces the ability to compete over large geographical areas where transportation cost and/or storage cost become too large.
Further, wire chafing stands of increased complexity are more difficult and expensive to manufacture. The greater the length of wire needed, the more wire needed, and/or the more weld points, the greater the expense. Sometimes it is necessary to increase the length of wire or weld points to increase stability, but sometimes it is desirable to reduce costs of material and production as much as possible. However, one must still produce a safe wire chafing stand which won't tip and which can hold a fuel source as well as a tray of food without danger.
There is therefore a need in the art to provide a wire chafing stand which is simpler to manufacture and less expensive to procure than known in the prior art.